I am not sure what made me think of it but recently I was looking over our plans to go to Pawtuckaway and was thinking something grander would be nice. Easy to say, but not always easy to accomplish as Jason likes what he likes and can be funny about getting away.

That said, I was looking at the Baxter State Park Reservation system and was surprised to find a number of open locations during the summer. Hmmmmm. Big hiking would be no good but fishing is always OK with Jason. So…long story short, I just booked the following trip to Baxter State Park.

Night Location

8/2 South Branch Lean-to 6 (view of Pond)

8/3 Pogy Pond

8/4 Pogy Pond (view of Pogy Pond from near shore, feet from lean-to)

8/5 South Branch Lean-to 1 (Jason fishing from shore in front of lean-to)

The first day we will get in camp, do a little hike, maybe throw the fishing line in the pond and eat well. Day two is a 6 mile backpack to Pogy Pond. We can get the canoe out there and fish, swim and hang out. Day three I expect in the morning we’ll head to Russell Pond looking for wildlife (say moose and like in my last trip) and then head back (stopping to grab as many blueberries as possible for snacks/dessert and breakfast. Afternoon of fishing and swimming. Day 4 will be a hike back to South Branch Campground, perhaps stopping at Lower South Branch Pond to swim and/or fish. Finish up with a big meal and Day 5 head home.

I am most excited that Jason and I will be backpacking into Pogy together. It’s an amazing place with fantastic views of the Mt. Katahdin area (as you can see from the pic). We will also be miles away from anybody else and will almost surely have the Pond for ourselves for two days.

Next, the real planning starts. What in the world will a finicky eater like Jason be able to have backpacking. Testing begins shortly.

Pawtuckaway would have been nice- but this trip will be more memorable. Would love to have been able to do some hiking but…this is the week after the 24 hour race so legs will really be dead and Jason is not so much into hiking. A backpack in is a huge step and I am psyched.